"It's not a defeat, it's a lesson"... RC Lens stunned and humiliated after its historic debacle in the Champions League against Como

There are matches after which finding the words is an unpleasant ordeal. When we have just suffered the biggest defeat of a French club in the history of the Champions League, it is obviously much more difficult. Coming out of the wreck of RC Lens against Como (1-9), under the amazed eyes of his own audience in Bollaert, Wednesday November 4, Michaël Cuisance still found the strength to answer three questions at the Canal+ microphone, with misty eyes.

"We have to pull ourselves together. We simply have to do better. We got through it. Sorry to all the fans. We're going to get to work, work hard to get our heads above water. We never like to lose. Today is not a defeat, it's a lesson," analyzed the 27-year-old midfielder. Focused on the future, the latter did not want to fall into self-flagellation: “In life, I have experienced much worse. There is only one path to take, and that is work. If it has to go through this kind of thing and the future is more beautiful, [so much the better]”.

“The predominant feeling is humiliation”

Wednesday evening, the Lensois gave in for the first time after six minutes of play and were never able to stop the bleeding. “We had a game plan. We didn’t respect it and we got pierced,” recalled defender Ruben Aguilar, author of the only Artesian goal. According to the French international, the responsibility for this unfortunately unforgettable performance lies solely with the players. “It is not up to the coach, the president or the sports director, but up to us the players to take responsibility, to raise the bar by working three times as hard,” he explained.

Despite two defeats in their first three Champions League matches, such a heavy defeat was not expected on Wednesday evening. The start of the Sang et Or season is certainly not as brilliant as last year, with a coach sacked in September, Dino Toppmöller, but they are in a decent ninth place in Ligue 1. When Yannick Cahuzac presented himself on Canal+, the Artesian coach barely masked his cold anger, expressing himself with a blank stare: "What we said to each other will remain in the locker room. The only feeling that predominates, It’s humiliation.”

The latter hopes that his team will raise its head on Sunday (8:45 p.m.). A match as important as it is difficult awaits RC Lens against Olympique de Marseille, in a Bollaert stadium which will barely have had time to recover from the trauma of Wednesday.